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ORCHID’S

MOTIVE TO BE A CONCUBINE REVEALED IN

ANCHEE MIN’S

EMPRESS ORCHID

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

SUMUNAR RENANING TYAS Student Number: 104214017

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

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i

ANCHEE MIN’S

EMPRESS ORCHID

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

SUMUNAR RENANING TYAS Student Number: 104214017

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

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LEMBAR PER}TYATAA}I PE?.SETUJUA}I PUBLII(ASI KARYA

ILMIAH

t}NTtII{ KEPENTINGAITT AKAI}trMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa dari Unversitas Sanata Dharma

Nama

: SumunarRenaningTyas NomorMahasiswa :104214017

Demi

gan ilmu pengetahuan, sy& memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul

ORCEID'S MOTIVE TO BE A CONCUBINE REVEALEI} IN A}tCgEE MIN'S EMPRESS ORCEID

Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan

kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma

hak

untuk

menyimpan, mengalil*an, dalart bentuk pangkalan dats, mendistibusikan secar& terbatas, dan

mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu merninta ijin kepada saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan rutma saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pade tanggnl : I Februari 2O17

Yang menyatakan,

M

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vi

I think about giving up. I almost do.

Anchee Min

Failure will never overtake me if my determination

to succeed is strong enough.

Og Mandino

There s no perfect time for anything, do it now or

you ll regret later.

Empire Records

Just keep going, you ll make it one day.

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vii

For My Beloved Parents

Herly Surahmat and Esti Yulianti

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viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ. I thank my

Lord for giving me His unconditional love, making all the things possible and blessing me with good friends and great life. I thank Him for helping me finish this thesis.

I would like to express deepest gratitude to my advisor Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. as my undergraduate thesis advisor and Adventina Putranti,

S.S., M. Hum. as my undergraduate thesis Co-advisor for being helpful giving the clue, guidance, and corrections during the process of completing the undergraduate thesis. I also give my gratitude to Anna Firtriati, S.Pd, M.Hum. as

my academic advisor for the guidance, lesson, and advices; and all the lecturers in Sanata Dharma University.

I would also like to express my greatest gratitude to my beloved parents, Herly Surahmat and Esti yulianti. I am really grateful to have them in my life and thank them for the love, prayers, and supports they gave to me; I thank my

brother, Arka Pawiwit and my sisters, Mirmalita and Novita, who also support me to finish my study. I would not make a great step forward without them.

I also give thanks to Robert Letsoin who spends his priceless time to support and cheer me up in every up and down in the process of my writing; my best friend Augustina Kresia Agasi, Steve Kamevan, Maria Cynthia Rani and

Indra for the helps, supports, and prayers. I am a lucky person to have them all in my life.

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ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE... i

APPROVAL PAGE... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE... iii

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY... iv

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH... v

MOTTO PAGE... vi

DEDICATION PAGE... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS... ix

ABSTRACT... xi

ABSTRAK... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION... 1

A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 4

C. Objectives of the Study ... 5

D. Definition of Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 7

A. Review of Related Studies ... 7

B. Review of Related Theories ... 10

1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 10

2. Theory of Motive and Motivation ... 12

3. The Relation between Psychology and Literature ... 14

C. Theoretical Framework ... 15

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY... 17

A. Object of the Study ... 17

B. Approach of the Study ... 18

C. Method of the Study ... 18

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS... 20

A. The Characteristics of Orchid... 20

1. Tough ... 22

2. Smart... 24

3. Optimistic ... 27

4. Hard Working ... 30

B. The Motive(s) of the Main Character to be a Concubine .... 32

1.Orchid’sMotive to Fulfill the Physiological Needs... 34

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x

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xi

ABSTRACT

TYAS, SUMUNAR RENANING. Orchid’s Motive to be a Concubine Revealed in Anchee Min’sEmpress Orchid.Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University. 2017

Empress Orchidis a novel written by Anchee Min. It tells about the life of an ordinary girl who lives in poverty, struggling to be a concubine of the Emperor. There are some reasons that make her join the decree of Imperial consorts. The focus of the writer in this study is the motive(s) of Orchid to be a concubine.

The objectives of this study is to find out the motive behind her reason to be a concubine. This study used two problem formulations. First, how the main character is described in the novel. The second, what the motive of the main character to become a concubine is.

In this study, the writer applied the library research method. The information was collected from the novel entitled Empress Orchid by Anchee Min,articles about the Qing Dynasty, writings about the author and the novel and the internet. There are two theories that are used in this study; the theory of character and characterization and the theory of motive. Because of the main focus of the study is motive, therefore the approach applied in this study is psychological approach.

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xii

ABSTRAK

TYAS, SUMUNAR RENANING. Orchid’s Motive to be a Concubine Revealed in Anchee Min’sEmpress Orchid.Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017.

Empress Orchid adalah sebuah novel fiksi yang ditulis oleh Anchee Min. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan seorang gadis sederhana yang terpuruk dalam kemiskinan dan berjuang untuk menjadi selir Kaisar. Ada beberapa kondisi yang membuat dia berminat mengikuti sayembara selir kekaisaran.

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk membuktikan bahwa ada motif dibalik alasan Orchid untuk menjadi seorang selir. Penelitian ini menerapkan dua rumusan masalah. Yang pertama adalah bagaimana karakter utama dideskripsikan. Yang kedua adalah motif karakter utama untuk menjadi seorang selir.

Dalam penelitian ini, penulis menerapkan metode data kepustakaan dan informasi yang dikumpulkan dari novel berjudul Empress Orchid karya Anchee Min, dari berbagai artikel, buku dan internet. Terdapat dua teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini; teori karakter dan penokohan, serta teori motif. Karena fokus utama dari penelitian ini adalah motif, maka pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan psikologis.

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Literature is an interesting subject to be studied. Literary work is a part of art that expresses creativity. It means that literary work may express about the

author, the people, the culture, the society and so on. Some kinds of literary work are novel, poetry, drama, short story and many more. Van De Laar and

Schoonderwoerd stated that “A novel is a work of art in so far as it introduces us

into a living world we live in…” (1963: 163). It builds the imagination of the

reader to feel the emotion and the feeling of the story and connect it into their real

life. The literary work that the writer used in this thesis is novel. It is one of well-known literary work, nowadays. It could be read by all the people no matter

whether they are children, teenagers, or adults. They may read novel as one of some ways to spend their spare time or escape from their daily activities. Not only do they have fun, they can also take the messages inside the novel whatever kind

of story it is.

We can see a novel from many perspectives. One perspective that is

applied in this study is psychological perspective. From this kind of perspective, we can see and analyze the behavior of the character, including motive. It is one important influence to the character of this study. Holman and Harmon argued

about psychological novel that:

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develop, external action. The psychological novel, not content to state what happens, goes on to explain the why of this action (1986: 402). It means that there must be a reason behind the action of the character to do something. The character is motivated to do his or her action by certain

circumstances.

This thesis analyses Anchee Min’sEmpress Orchid.Anchee Min was born

in Shanghai in 1957. She has written several books of historical fiction, including

Empress Orchid, which won the British Book Awards. It was the sixth novel of Anchee Min after her best seller book In Memoir Red Azalea. The book won the

Carl Sandburg Literary Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

Anchee Min, the writer of this novel, reinterprets the other perspective of the main character, Orchid, which had a reputation as a destroyer. She was considered as an enemy by the people of China. The children nowadays were

taught that the cause of the fall of every China’s Dynasty was a concubine’s mistakes, for example Madame Mao. In her case, she was sentenced to death. The

children were taught that the concubine had to be responsible of the fall of the dynasty. While the people of China and the West remember Orchid as a destroyer of the dynasty, Anchee Min depicts the character of Orchid as a strong, tough, and

a striving woman. She is a great politician, a smart strategy expert, a mother and a wife who is full of love. She wants her child to know the truth of their own history

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The main character, Orchid, through her characteristics shows that she can make her own destiny. She has the competence to achieve what she wants

although she lives in poverty. Furthermore, she doesn’t give up in her condition. She tries to make her life and her family getting better although she has to feel the

pain to achieve that.

From the novel entitledEmpress Orchid, we can learn it is not easy to be a concubine. From the beginning before she was selected, she had to follow every

section which was very exhausting and strict. She could die there once she made anything fool. In the novel, Rong said to Orchid, “Don’t you go out of your way,

Orchid. Everyone knows that the Forbidden City has strict rules. One wring move

and your head could be chopped (p.26)”. The emperor just needs seven

concubines, while the numbers of the applicants were thousands. The Orchid’s

possibility to become the one of the seven concubines was small.

Concubine is not the main wife of the Emperor. They have to realize that

they are going to be duplicated and have no power to force the Emperor to stay in their side. In the novel, Big Sister Fann says that:

After the official wives were chosen, the rest of the finalists would be kept and would live in the Forbidden City. They might never get a chance to mate with His Majesty, but they were guaranteed a lifetime of annual taels. The amount given was based on tittle and rank (p.23).

From that statement, it is clearly said that they would be kept and would live in the Forbidden City. They do not have any freedom to go outside the city to visit

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with him. The competition with the other concubines might end in death, because they do not know what kind of strategy that they use to make the other concubine

lose.

For some people, it is a difficult decision to be a concubine when they

know the risk of being the concubine. Become a concubine is a great struggle. It needs high self-confidence, beautiful appearance, and smart brain to win the competition as the concubine, not the main wife of the Emperor. It seems like the

bird of the Emperor in the cage. They could work on shop or become the servant of the rich to get money, keep staying with their family, do anything that they like,

choose anything that they want to eat and so on.

The motive(s) of the main character to become the concubine are the main reason of the writer to write this thesis. To fulfill the needs of her family, she has

to separate herself from their family. Analysingthe motif of someone’s action will help the writer to understand the human being. It is not easy to understand many

kinds of behaviors of human being.

B. Problem Formulation

The writer presents two problems to understand the novel as formulated as

follows:

1. How is Orchid described as the main character as seen in Anchee Min’s Empress Orchid?

2. According to theory of motive cited by Gerric & Zimbardo, what are the

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C. Objectives of the Study

This study has two objectives. The focuses of the writer to answer the

questions are the writer emphasizes on the character, struggles and motives of the main character.

In the first objective, the writer identifies the characteristics and the life background of the main character, Orchid. By identifying the characteristics of Orchid, the writer can see the main character’s point of view about concubine.

Secondly, the writer sees the background life of the main character as the motive of the main character to become a concubine seen from the theory of motive.

D. Definition of Terms

The writer applies three terms in this study. The first term is character. M.H Abrams, stated that:

Characters are the person in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue – and by what they do–the action (1985: 23).

In the other source, Robert Stanton states that the character who is relevant

to every event in the story, usually the events cause some changes either in him or in our attitude towards him (1965:17).

The second term is motive. According to Mcclelland, Atkinson Clark and

Lowell, motive is the learning result of pairing cues with affect or the condition which produced affect (1976:75). Karwoski and Stagner stated that motive can

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The last term is concubine. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines concubine as a woman who lives with and has sex with a man who already has a

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7

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In this chapter, the writer divides it into three parts. The first part is review on related studies. The second part is review on related theories and the last part is

theoretical framework.

A. Review of Related Studies

Empress Orchidis a novel that has a lot of topics that can be discussed. It

depends on the perspective that the readers had when they read the novel. In this thesis, the writer analyses the novel with psychological approach. In this review of related studies, the writer takes a researcher who discusses about the same novel.

The first study is from Deasy Ekawati entitled Orchid’s Character Development

and Struggles in Anchee Min’s Empress Orchid: A Reflection of Early Feminist

Struggles in China.

In Ekawati’s study, she analyses about Orchid’s character development before and after Hsien Feng death and also her struggles. She is interested in

exploring the main character, Orchid, which was known as Empress Cixi in real life, a person that affected the feminist movement in China. She says, “In this

thesis, the writer wishes to explore the life of Empress Cixi, previously known as simply Orchid, as a part of the rise of what seems to be the feminist movement in China (Ekawati, 2009: 1)”.

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know that time, in nineteenth century, China embraced the culture of patriarchy. Women was under controlled by men, under estimated, and mistreated. It was a

big movement of feminism when a woman could use her knowledge to rule the government. Orchid was a female who fought her right as a woman in patriarchal

culture, she also the only one empress who lead China and unfortunately ended up with the downfall of the dynasty. Here are the reasons that Ekawati uses this novel. Ekawati applied the theory of characterization, theory of conflict and

theory of feminism. Theory of characterization used to analyze the characteristics of the main character by Murphy which contains seven ways to understand the

character’s personal description. The theory of conflict in order to understand the conflicts Orchid had to through, and the last theory of feminism to get a better

understanding of the importance of Empress Orchid’s role as a milestone of

feminism in China (Ekawati, 2009: 18-19).

As Ekawati’s above title suggested, the focuses of her thesis were the

character development of Orchid from an ordinary girl who lost her father and worked hard for her family as the oldest child until she lost Hsien Feng and rule the China. Then, the other one is her struggles that she had to face until she

became empress with thight competition among the concubines. All in all, she stated a good and positive review of the novel.

The second related study is from an undergraduate thesis by Richard

Kevin Kristanto titled “The Influence of Setting on Orchid’s Character Changes in

Anchee Min’s Empress Orchid”. The focuses of his study are describing the

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He states that the setting where Empress Cixi- known as Orchid or Lady Yehonala-lives changes her character and mostly happens in the Forbidden City

(Kristanto, 2014:3). The changes are supported by Richard Gill who said, “We

can conclude that the setting of place and time can change the character of

someone. The landscape in the short story reflects the character feels about the

other character” (1995:152).

The theory that Kristianto used to analyze the novel was the theory of

character and characterization by Murphy, the character of setting, and the setting that influence the character. The theory of Murphy was used to analyze the

Orchid’s transformed character, the theory of setting to analyze the setting of The Forbidden City (Kristanto, 2014: 11).

Those studies are very helpful to analyze the topic in this thesis. Both of

them used the same novel, Empress Orchid. The first study discussed the main character development and struggles as a reflection of early feminist in China. The

second study focused on the influence of setting on the main character changes. In this thesis, the writer analyzes the same novel but has different topic. The writer tries to analyze the motive of Orchid to become a concubine through the

characterization. Primarily, this study examines the reason behind her motive becomes the concubine rather than a worker in the village to reach her

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B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

It is important for the reader to understand the content of the story. That is

the character’s job to make the reader understand. Murphy’s (1972:161-173) explains that there are nine ways to understand the characters and personalities of

the people in the novel. In this study, the writer will use six ways to analyze the character. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, thoughts, reaction, and the last is mannerism.

The first is personal description. It can be seen when the author describe

the character’s appearance. Such as the skin, how they dressed, the kind of clothes

that they wear, how they rolled their hair, the face, the gesture, and so on that show external appearance of the character. The characteristics can be seen from the description of the external appearance.

The second way is other’s opinions about the character. The author may describe the character and its personality from the opinion of the other character, I

mean the people around. How they describe the character, what they say about the

character, whatever it is that come out from others’ talking.Such as“Orchid needs decent clothes”, Uncle said to my mother (p.20). From the statement of other

character, one example is that the main character may dressed look like a beggar so she need the decent cloth.

The third is speech. The characteristics of the character can be seen from

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The fourth is the past life of the character. The author let the reader to

learn something about the character’s past life to see how the character’s

characteristics are shaped. It can be seen through the narrator or conversation. The fifth is thoughts. In a novel there must be a part when the characters

talk to inner monologues, then the personalities can be seen in what they are thinking about.

The sixth way is the reaction of the character. It can be seen on how the

character reacts to some situations or events. Also, on how they face the problem or find the solutions of their problem.

The last one is mannerism. The manner or the habits of the character must be showed the personalities of the character. The personalities can be described by how the character treats other people, their daily behavior, are they have moral or

not.

In literary work, character has important role. Actor and actress are the

character in the novel. They are the teller and the actor that reveals the novel through their speech or action. Abrams and Harpham said that:

Character are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it-the dialogue-and from what they do-the action (2009:42).

Robert Stanton describes that character is classified into two different types. The first type is major character. It is a character that may dominate the whole story. The second type is minor character, it is presented in order to explain

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The term “character” is commonly used in two ways: it designates the individuals who appear in the story, as in “How many characters are there?” and it refers to the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and

moral principles that makes up each of these individuals, as in “How would you describe his character?” (1965: 17).

Holman and Harmon stated in their book titled that “characterization is the

creation of imaginary personages who exist for readers as lifelike” (1986: 80).

There are three basic methods of characterization that related to character:

a. The explicit presentation of the character by the author through direct explanation whether in a book’s introduction or throughout the work,

illustrated by action (1986: 81).

b. The presentation of the character in action, therefore the reader will be able to conclude the attributes of character from its actions (1986: 81-82).

c. The presentation from within a character without comment on the character by the author of the impact of the actions and emotions on

the character’s inner self, with the expectation that the reader will

come to clear understanding of the attributes of the character (1986: 82).

2. Theory of Motive and Motivation

Normally, every human in this world must have goals in life whether it is

short term or lifetime goal. The goals itself appear because of certain motive. The motive is the main base reason of human doing something or behaving. Motive

can explain why a man prefers to ride a motorcycle to go to work rather than a car. For some people, motivation is something which triggered someone to achieve the goal. There is a relation between motive and motivation. According to

Worchel and Shebilske,

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From his statement, it means that motive is the factor which pushes an organism to act directly while the motivation influences an organism to decide and behave

in certain situation. In this study, the analysis leads to the motive rather than the motivation of the main character to be a concubine.

Charles G. Morris said that Motive is an inner directing force-a need or want-that arouses the organism and directs behavior toward a goal (1990:408)”. It is similar to Kagan and Havernann’s definition of motive that motive is a desire of

goal that has acquired value for the individual (1972:44).

Furthermore, based on Oxford Dictionary 8th Edition, motive has two

meaning, “motive as a noun is a reason for doing something and motive as

adjective is causing movement or action” (p.963).

Worchel and Shebilske place two motives into two groups. The first is

primary motive, which concerns in our biological needs, e.g. thirst, sexual desire, hunger, rest, etc. This motive is usually unlearned, common to all animals, and

vital for the survival of the organism or the species. The second is social motive which comes from learning and social interaction, includes the needs for affiliation, aggression, and achievement (1989:374).

Another definition of motive is from David C. Edwards. He classifies motive into three categories, there are (1) Survival motive. It is based on

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(3) Self motive. It contributes towards the maintenance of the concept of self or ego which each individual has personally developed. (1969: 70-71)

Motives can be further explored through Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1970) as cited by Gerric and Zimbardo (2008: 122) who formulated the

theory hierarchy of needs in five levels. It means that when someone wants to reach his/her goals, there must the needs that he/she has to fulfill according to the sequence of the levels. Based on Maslow, there are five needs that someone has to

fulfill in order to achieve his goal. The first level is physiological needs, such as food, oxygen, and water. These physiological needs must be fulfilled before step

the higher needs. Biologically every human need energy to do the activities. To get the energy, they need to eat, drink, and sleep. Without fulfill the physiological needs, they can not be able to fulfill the next level of hierarchy. The next level is

safety needs, it is called safety needs because the person’s need of security, comfort, freedom for fear from dangerous situation or maybe from financial

disaster. The third level is attachment or belonging needs. This is a person’s need

of affection, love and to be loved, having a place in a society or group. The fourth is esteem needs, the requirement for balancing the other needs. It needs of

achievement, power, and respect. The last is the highest needs, it is self-actualization needs. A self-actualization need is a person’s need to reach

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From those five needs, the writer can see that human must have the motive to fulfill their needs or achieve their goals. By using these terms, the writer can

analyze the motive of the main character.

3. The Relation between Psychology and Literature

The argument is based on Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, they stated

that “psychology and literature has a close relation in which some works of

literature talks about psychological cases. People can learn psychology that may

be revealed in works of literature by analyzing the works”(1984: 81).

To understand the psychology of characters in literature, it can be seen in the action, opinion, behavior, and thought of the character. Motive is also an

example of psychological way a character uses to achieve the goals. Norman N. Holland stated, if we discussed about psychology and literature therefore it also

talking about the application of psychology to explore literary problems and behavior (1990:29).

C. Theoretical Framework

To analyze the problems that are formulated before, the writer applied some theories which explained previously. The theories are the theory of character

and characterization, the theory of motive, and the relation between literature and psychology.

The writer applies the theories of character and characterization to analyze

Orchid’s character and give further description about Orchid’s characterization to answer the first problem. There are four theories used. The first is theories of

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character of Orchid represent in the story. The second, the writer will apply the theories of characterization by Murphy and Holman and Horman to give further

description about Orchid’s characteristics.

The writer uses the theory of motive to answer the second problem. There

are four theories that can help the writer to answer the second problem. The first theory of motive is from Charles g. Morris and Kagan and Havernnann. These theories are related to the understanding of motive which both have the same

concept that motive is the main reason of someone doing something or achieve a goal. The theories by Worchel and Shebilske, David C. Edwards focused on the

kinds of motive while Maslow focused on hierarchy of needs of a person to satisfy their needs.

The third, the writer see the relation between literature and psychology. By

the theory of Holland, Wellek and Warren, the writer can see the main character psychology represent in the novel. The writer will apply the psychological

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is a novel titled Empress Orchid. This novel is written by Anchee Min. This novel is the fourth book that she wrote. This book is

one of her best seller novel after Red Azalea and Madame Mao. Red Azalea was published in 1992, followed byBecoming Madame Maoin 2000. Empress Orchid

was first published in 2004 in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. and in 2006, this novel got nominee for the Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year Award. It is also one of the ten list of best-selling book in England.

Empress Orchid contains twenty four chapters and three hundred seventy pages. The author, Anchee Min, creates this novel based on history of China in

Qing Dinasty. The real character of Orchid was Empress Dowager Cixi from Manchu clan. The characteristics of Anchee Min’s novels are always related to

China’s History. The novel tells about a girl named Orchid, eighteen years old,

who lost her father and have to replace the position of her father to take care of the family. After her father died, she lived in Peking with her mom, her sister, and her

brother with financial problem or poverty. She tries become the Emperor’s

concubine and fortunately, she was choosen. She has to survive in Forbidden City with all of the problem and dangerous situation. She was the only one of the

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throne as an Emperor, Orchid gained the title of Empress Dowager and got a new name, Cixi.

B. Approach of the Study

To analyze the novel, an approach is used as the framework. As the writer deals with the motive of the main character, the writer chose psychological

approach to analyze the work. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Wood said that

“psychological approach involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain

recurrent patterns” (1971:13). It means that psychological approach can identify any aspects of psychology in literature world including human motivation, imagination, thought, behavior, and human personality. This approach is used to

explain the human motivation which can be used to analyze the motive of the main character as it deals with mind, perspective and behavior. The

characterization of the main character as human personality pattern can be seen

through the main character’s mind, perspective and behavior. In Sartain theory

about motive, generally, a motive is a complex state within an organism that

directs behavior toward a goal or incentive (1956: 46). The goal itself terminates the behavior of the character. The characterization influences an organism to do

actions to reach the goal. Therefore, psychological approach helps the writer to

explain the pattern of the main character in analyzing of Orchid’s motive to

become a concubinethrough the character’s mind and behavior.

C. Method of the Study

The method that writer used to analyze the novel is library research. The

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provided in the library and internet. The primary source is the novel entitles

Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. The secondary sources are some important

books such asAn Introduction to Fictionby Robert Stanton, Reading and Writing about Literature by Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Psycology: Understanding Human Behavior by Aaron Q. Sartain, Psychology and Life by

Gerric & Zimbardo and Understanding Unseen by Murphy. The others are some of the writing from the internet.

Moreover, there were several steps needed to do the research. The first was choosing the literary work to be analyzed. It was a novel by Anchee Min entitled Empress Orchid. Next, reading the novel as the primary data in order to

understanding the study. The second step was formulated the problem formulations which can be analyzed. Third, the writer chose the appropriate

theory to analyze the literary work. They are the theory of character and characterization and the theory of motive. The next step, the writer chose the appropriate approach of the study. The psychological approach by Rohrberger was

the suitable approach to analyze and answer the problem formulations. The fifth step, the writer analyze and answer the problem formulation. The first problem

formulation was describing Orchid’s characterization and the second problem

formulation was the motive of the main character to become a concubine through

Maslow’s theory of motive cited by Gerric & Zimbardo. The last step was drew

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20

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

This chapter is divided into two parts based on the two formulated problems. The first part is the analysis of the characteristics of the main character.

The second is the analysis of the main character’s motive(s). The writer applies the theories that already discussed in chapter two.

A. The Characteristics of Orchid

As Robert Stanton said about major character that dominated the whole story, Orchid is the major character in the novel. In every chapter in the novel tells

about Orchid’s life since she was child until she becomes the Empress. Orchid

was a daughter of governor of Wuhu. She was born and raised in Anhwei, the poorest province in China. Actually she lived in a not well-off family, but they did

not live in poverty. Her father was died in her young age and her mother had to work hard to fulfill the family needs especially food. From her childhood, she fell in love with the woman warrior, Hua Mulan, although she never dreamed to be a

warrior when she grown up.

As Murphy mentioned that appearance and others opinion can show the

characteristics of the character through the personal description. Physically, Orchid was described as pretty girl. The beauty of Orchid can be seen in the conversation of Taotaito Orchid when she was on the journey to bring her father

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A moment later he turned to me. I expected him to speak but he didn’t. “You are not Chinese, are you?” he finally asked. His eyes were on my

unbound feet.

“No, sir,” I replied. “I am Manchu.” “How old are you? Fifteen?”

“Seventeen.”

He nodded. His eyes continued to travel up and down, examining me.

“The road is filled with bandits,” he said. “A pretty girl like you should not be walking.” (p.11)

From the statement, it could be seen that the beauty of Orchid was mesmerized the people around even her appearance looked like a beggar. Her beauty makes her

pass the selection to be the candidates of consort. When she worked for Big Sister Fann, she discouraged Orchid when Orchid wanted to join the decree but it did not

stop her. The next morning she went to the local courthouse and the guard said that Orchid was qualified to be the candidates.

I went up to the man and got down on my knees. I stated my name and age. I said that my father was from Yehonala clan and was the latetaotai

of Wuhu.

“No, sir,” I replied.

“I am not allowed to let anyone enter the palace looking like a beggar.” “Well, may I have your permission to ask whether I am qualified for the

entrance? If I can get a yes from you, sir, I shall find a way to prepare my

appearance.”

“Do you think I’d bother to waste my breath if I didn’t find you qualified?”(p.24)

The statement of the guard implied that the beauty of Orchid was qualified. Unfortunately, she does not have proper clothes to enter the palace. Then she tells

Big Sister Fann that she passed the entrance exam and she just admitted her

beauty after study Orchid’s features. From then, Big Sister Fann helps her and

transforms her into a princess.

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the writer uses only seven ways to help the readers understand the characteristics of the main characters. Those seven ways are personal descriptions, character as

seen by another, speech, past life of the character, thoughts, reactions, and mannerisms. From those seven ways, the writer concludes that Orchid has four

characteristics. Those characteristics are

1. Tough

According to Murphy (1972: 171), the reader can analyze the character

through the character’s thought. Orchid was seventeen years old when her father was died. Her father was died because of the broke down of his health after being dismissed. The condition of her family was terrible. Her mother sold all of the

family wealth even her wedding souvenir to clear the debts but it was not enough. They had no money to bury her father in his hometown, Peking. Her mother only

had some money to pay the footmen. Orchid was a tough person; it can be seen from her thoughts:

“A rotten smell that came from my father’s coffin—he had been dead for two months and we were still carrying him, trying to reach Peking, his

birthplace, for burial. I witnessed my father’s struggles and sufferings at a young age”.(p.5)

“We walked in silence and listened to the sound of our broken shoes

tapping the dirt. Swarms of flies chased the coffin. Each time the footmen

paused for a break the flies covered the lid like blanket”. (p.6)

“We had been traveling north along the Grand Canal on foot because we

had no money to hire a boat. My feet were covered with blisters.” (p.6)

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because when she was born, her father wanted a son, but she did not have the heart to leave her father in the condition like that.

Commonly, a person who lives in wealth will use his power to do his favor, being spoiled, not independent, selfish and arrogant. Although Orchid’s

father is a governor, he cannot hire coolies to fan her and her siblings. They have to deal with the temperature all day long and Orchid never complained. It can be seen that, although she was born in a wealth family she has different life. She

already has a tough life to live.

“During the summer months the temperature stayed above one hundred

degrees, day and night. Other governors hired coolies to fan their children,

but my parents couldn’t afford one. Each morning my sheet would be soaked with sweat

“You wet the bed!” my brother would tease.” (p.7)

The other proof that Orchid was a tough girl is when her mother arranged

the engagement of Orchid and her cousin, Bottle. After she buried her father, Orchid and her family stayed in Peking in her uncle’s rented house. Since the

death of her father, she lives in poverty. Besides her uncle wanted the rooms back, her mother had to pay off all the debts. Her mom runs out of money because of paying the footmen to carry his father coffin and the health treatments bills of her

father. Incidentally, her uncle offered some taels to pay off the debts if Orchid wanted to marry Bottle. Because of the economic insistence, her mother arranged

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“Orchid will make a good wife for Bottle,” Uncle said to my mother,

pushing Bottle toward me. “How about I give you enough taels to help pay

off your debts?” (p.20)

“I ran from the house into the snow. Soon both of my shoes were soaked

and I could no longer feel that I had toes.

A week later Mother told me that I was engaged to Bottle.”(p.20)

“Uncle wants his rooms back,” Kuei Hsiang said. “Someone offered him more rent. Marry Bottle, Orchid, so Uncle won’t kick us out.

I wish that I had the courage to say no to Mother. I did not have any choice. Rongand Kuei Hsiang were too young to help support the family.”

(p.21)

Being engaged to someone that she did not love made her had to keep moving on how to avoid the engagement. Furthermore, bottle was a hidden son

between her uncle and a local prostitute. His characteristics were not her type even her sister said that this engagement was not fair for Orchid. Bottle was a slope-shouldered fellow

“Cousin Bottle was a slope-shouldered fellow. The shape of his face matched his name. He looked sixty years old, although he was only twenty-two. Besides being “slow,” he was an opium addict.” (p.20)

Knowing that her fiancé looks like not a good person for her, she tries to join the selection of Imperial consort. She believes that she can pass the exam, but Big Sister Fann discourages her. Orchid does not care about the Big Sister Fann said

and she keeps going on to the local courthouse in the next morning. She proves to Big Sister Fann that she is qualified.

2. Smart

As we know that China was one of several countries which implemented the patriarchal culture. Montagu said that woman was a creature with smaller

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sickly creatures (1984: xiii). It means that the one who used to be well educated was men. But Orchid was different. She was raised in Chinese way although she

was aManchu. In the Ekawati’s study about Manchurian, she stated that Manchus were educated at home from early age. Orchid’s smartness is due to her parents

upbringing. Although they not schooling in formal way. Orchid’s father was the

one who insisted that she learn to read. She had no formal schooling, but she is good enough developed in vocabulary. Her father was just like the family clan of

Manchurian, Emperor Tao Kuang. He was an admirer of Peking opera and he hired Chinese tutors to teach his children. Besides she learned Mandarin, she also

learned the Manchu language which was never used in that time.

“Although I was not my father’s favorite at first –he was disappointed that I, his firstborn, was not a son–he did his best in raising me. It was he who insisted that I learn to read. I had no formal schooling, but I developed

enough of a vocabulary to figure out the stories of the Ming and Ch’ing

classics.” (p.6)

Another example of Orchid’s smartness is her creativity. Orchid is a

creative person since she was child. During the summer months, the temperature in Wuhu was stayed above one hundred degrees all day long. In the afternoon, she organized her neighbors and her siblings to cool the house by pouring the water

over the tiles of the roof. As Murphy said that the reactions of the character in a situation can show the characteristics of the character. Orchid’s family was

different than the other wealth family she has to deal with the temperature in her house. From Orchid’s tenacity to deal with the temperature, she has the idea to cool down the house by pouring the water to the roof moreover she can persuade

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creative is one characteristics of smart person. While the other wealthy children

got their coolies man to fan them, Orchid’s creativity to cool down the

temperature was out of the box idea than the other children who just sit and get fan by the coolies men.

In the afternoon, when the heat became unbearable, I would organize the children to help cool the house. My sister and brother would fill the buckets, and I would pull them up to the roof where I poured the water over the tiles. We would go back to the water afterward. (p.8)

Moreover, Orchid is a fast learner too. When Orchid supports her family financially by work in a shoes shop, her boss, Big Sister Fann always tell

everything about Forbidden City and her life. She likes to work there, besides she

also enjoys Big Sister Fann’s wisdom about life. For a while, she learns about the

place where she will live for the rest of her life, the gossips inside the Forbidden City, and the story of the previous Emperor and its family. There are so much evidence in the novel said that she learned many things by hearing Big Sister Fann

story in once. Besides the example above, she also learned about the place where she lived, the story about the young Emperor, Imperial household, tradition,

moreover the process of the imperial consorts selection, the true concept of

beauty, how to dress, the eunuch’s life which were important for her in the future

life as a concubine. There are a lot of benefits that she gets from her fast learner

characteristics. Orchid says

It was from Big Sister Fann that I learned about the place where I would

soon live for the rest of my life. She told me that the hall’s ceiling alone

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As a woman in patriarchal culture, a woman who could read and write was a special achievement. Moreover, Orchid was very helpful in government stuff.

She was trusted to help Emperor Hsieng Feng take care the documents, proposals and decisions when he was sick while the others concubines were busy take care

their beauty.

“I suggested that His majesty squeeze the money out of corrupt

bureaucrats. I proposed that he order government officials nationwide to report their incomes. In the meantime His Majesty should send inspector to audit their books to see if the reports matched what had really been earned.

“That might provoke resentment,” His Majesty said.

“Not ifwe add a clause to the decree stating that no one would be charged with embezzlement if the guilty individuals donated their improper money to the victim of the flood disaster.

The decree worked beautifully.” (p.249)

The statements above show that she was quite smart to manage the state finances. As what Murphy said about characteristics. The characteristics of a character can be seen from her/his speech, thoughts and reaction.

In the recessive situation, she could give the suggestion to the emperor and it was accepted. It worked beautifully. From the beginning she stepped her feet in

Forbidden City, she had the willingness to compete with other concubines. She attracted the Emperor not only by her beauty but also by her intelligence which

other concubine did not have.

3. Optimistic

Thought, reaction and mannerism are the dominant ways to find this

characteristic. From the beginning of Orchid’s past life, she is an optimistic

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live in low financial, yet she is being grateful that her father did not sell her to pay off the debts. She said that, “We didn’t live in poverty, but I was aware that my

neighbors had eaten earthworms for dinner and had sold their children to pay off the debts (p.5)”.

Another example of her optimistic nature is in her childhood. In the afternoon on summer day which the heat was unbearable, she make her house keep cool otherwise she still got wet when she woke up. She has the optimist idea

that inside the house will be cool which is logically it just make the atmosphere inside the house was cooked. As Holman and Harmon stated, the presentation of

the character in action makes the writer conclude that she is optimist. She believed that the house will be cool whether the fact was not.

She starts to live in poverty after her father dead, although she lived in

poverty it does not make her give up in that situation. She keeps on living her life with any chance that she could get. When she is going to Peking with her mother

and her siblings to deliver the coffin of her father, her mother ran out of money so she could not pay the footmen. Suddenly, ataotaipresented a wrong package with three hundred taels of silver inside, he took the taels back but she still expected

him to speak, hoped that he still give her some taels. It really happened, thetaotai

gave her some taels and she never forgot about him.

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that Orchid doesn’t have a chance rather than the concubines and court ladies she had seen but she did not depressed.

“Don’t you think I have a chance?” I cried to Big Sister Fann, “I am a

Manchu and seventeen. My father was a Blue Bannerman.”

Fann shook her head. “Orchid, you are an ugly mouse compared to the concubines and court ladies I have seen.”

I drank from a bucket of water and sat down to think. Big Sister Fann’s

words discouraged me, but my desire was not diminished. (p.22)

Eventually, Orchid passed the qualification. As the Emperor’s concubine, she

might never spend a night with him. She knows the risks of being concubine but her optimistic attitude doesn’t stop there. She still believed that becomes a

concubine is better than marrying Bottle. The matchmaking with Bottle can be avoided but the next step with the Emperor cannot. Once she enters the Forbidden

City, then there is no way out from it. Whether the fact sounds not good, she still

found her own positive reason because of her mother’s taught about the Ch’an

concept of happiness, which was to find satisfaction in small things.

“What if you never get to spend a night with His Majesty?” Rong asked.

Her raised eyebrows formed a line on her forehead.

“It is better than marrying Bottle isn’tit?”

Rong nodded. (p.26)

The day when she had to leave her family, the whole family delivered her

in front of the gate of Forbidden City. When her name was mentioned by one of the eunuchs, her mother was down. It was the hard time for Orchid to leave her

family out of her range. She cannot visit her family anytime she wanted. Every family gets a box contains of five hundred silver coins from His Majesty. Deep down in her heart said at least the taels could live her family.

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“Consider yourself boarding a ship of mercy on the sea of suffering,” Mother cried, waving at me. “Your father’s spirit will be with you!”

I bit my lip and nodded. I told myself to be happy, because with the five hundred taels my family would be able to survive.

“Take care of mother!” I said to Rong and Kuei Hsiang. (p.30)

She knows that left her mother while she is sick is not a good idea, but she

believed by being the concubine, the taels that will be sent to her family can be used to survive her family, buy the medicine for her mother’s health, and pay the rent house.

Her optimistic attitude also seen in the physical examination after she is enters the Forbidden City for the selection. She was instructed to undress in front

of the eunuch. As a woman who is a virgin and never undressed in front of the opposite, it must be embarrassing. Even the eunuch will touch many parts of her body tomatch the Emperor’s own chart.

I closed my eyes and tried to convince myself that the eunuchs were not men. When I opened my eyes again I found this to be true. (p.28)

She sets her minds optimistically that all the eunuchs are women, so she can give the best perform of herself confidently. The eunuchs remind her to the countryside

men that will be drooled at the sight of a girl even she was fully clothed, fortunately they are not.

4. Hard Working

Hard workingis one of Orchid’s characteristics that she hadsince she was

child. Orchid is a good girl who is dependent and helpful person. Even though her father is a governor, her family is living below the level of subsistence. Although she lives in a mansion, her father cannot afford coolies to fan her and her siblings.

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house by pouring the water on the tiles of the roof. It is also the proof that she is a hard worker too. While her parents did not think about cool the house she has her

own way to find the solution even though in the morning her sheet still wet because of her sweat. She and her relatives try to cool the house by pouring it with

water from the roof.

This characteristic starts to appear apparently after her father died. According to Murphy’s theory of past life, in Orchid’s past life in Wuhu, she

knows all the struggles and suffers of her parents. She learned that she has to work harder to support the family. Her mother got depressed and sick, in the other hand

she had two siblings a sister named Rong and a brother named Kuei Hsiang which three of them need to eat. They are too young to support the family’s needs. She has to replace the position of her father as breadwinner. Her first time visits

Peking, she is amazed by everything she has seen whether it is the decoration, the people, the food and the atmosphere in this city. To prove that she is a hard

worker person, the writer see from the reaction of the main character like Murphy said. In the second day, she goes to neighbors and peddlers at the vegetable market to find a job. She works and gets paid daily in that market until the day

when no one hired her.

I went to neighbors and peddlers at the vegetables market hoping to find work. I carried loads of yams and cabbages, and cleaned the stalls after the market closed. I made a few copper pennies each day. Some days no one hired me and I would come empty-handed. (p.13)

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likes to go to work even though her hair coated with dust and her neck painfully sore. She gives all the money she earned to her mother but still cannot pay the

bills. Her mother took a cleaning job but she was fired because of sick and it motivates her to work harder than before. She realizes that the fee of working with

Big Sister Fann is not enough to recover the family needs.

After heard about decree posted on the city wall from Big Sister Fann, she found out the way to avoid the matchmaking between her and Bottle. She decided

to go and take a look the decree. The requirements make her thoughts began to race. The life time guarantee can pay all the debts and fulfill her family needs. Her

hard worked in the shoes shop now move to the selection of the Emperor’s

concubine. Every time she comes home from Big Sister Fann, the reality of marrying Bottle makes her lost the hope. It seems like somebody seize her life.

She prefers be a concubine which never get spend a night with the Emperor rather than marrying Bottle.

B. The Motive(s) of the Main Character to be a Concubine.

Being a concubine may be what Chinese girls dreamed in that time. It was

not only about the happiness of being one of Imperial’s family, but also the wealth

that they get from the Majesty for the prosperity of their family. As we know that literally concubine means a woman who lives with a man, often in addition to his wife or wives, but who is less important than they are. It means that a concubine

has no power than his wife, they are not really important in Emperor’s eyes.

The idea of being less important than wife or wives is not what Orchid

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Orchid was an ordinary family before her family was died. She was interested to join the selection of Imperial consorts. Becoming the concubine, it will help her

supports her family. It is a big chance for Orchid to join the decree because she was the daughter of a Blue Bannerman like the poster said.

The candidates had to be Manchu, to keep the purity of the Imperial bloodline. I remembered Father once told me that among four hundred million people in China, five million were Manchu. The poster also said

that the girls’ fathers had to be at least the rank of Blue Bannerman. (p.22)

The purpose of the qualification that the candidates must be the daughter of Blue Bannerman or highest position is to make sure that they have intelligence genetic.

For a person who has no formal education and had no proper clothes to enter the palace it must be hard for her to pass the selection. So, there must be motives

behind her hard work to join the imperial decree.

This thesis analyses Orchid’s motive to become a concubine. As Morris said that motive is an inner directing force-a need or want- that arouses the

organism and directs behavior toward a goal (1990:408), Orchid has her own goals, her own desires. Being a concubine is her move to achieve her goals. . The

concept of a concubine can be used to analyze the main character.

Worchel and Shebilske categorized two motives into two groups. The first is primary motive which concerns her biological needs. Every living thing must

do something to fulfill their primary motive, so does Orchid. She is looking for a job to get some money so she and her family can eat and drink. The second is

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life is by learning from the past. That is what Orchid did to get better. She knows the struggles of her parents when she was child, and she can live dependently in

her young age, replace her father position as the pioneer of her family.

Furthermore, according to Abraham Maslow cited by Gerric and

Zimbardo, the motives of Orchid can be explored through hierarchy of needs.

Thus, the writer uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to analyze the Orchid’s

motive(s) becomes a concubine.

1. Orchid’sMotive to Fulfill the Physiological Needs

The first motive of Orchid’s to become a concubine is avoiding the poverty life. In that time, the financial of her family was broke and they live in

poverty and it was the basic problem that she had. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy

of needs, he stated that physiology needs are the basic needs that human need to

survive such as food, liquid, sleep, oxygen, etc. It needs to be fulfilled before fulfill the following needs on the hierarchy.

As Sartain said about motive (1958: 46) that it is a complex state within an

organism that directs behavior toward a goal or incentive, Orchid’s goal to live in

prosperity by become a concubine drive her to do something in order to fulfill the

basic need. She realizes that her basic needs such as food are not completely fulfilled. It can be seen when she delivers her father’s coffin to Peking with her

mother and her siblings to bury her father in his birthplace. The rotten smell

comes out from the coffin and they have to reach Peking as soon as possible while the journey to Peking is not easy. Her mother runs out of money on paying the

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Before leaving us, the footmen carried the coffin to the bank of the Grand Canal so we could see the passing boats, where we might get help. The heat worsened and the air grew still. The smell of decay from the coffin grew stronger. We spent the night under the open sky, tormented by the

heat and mosquitoes. My siblings and I could hear one another’s stomachs

rumbling (p.10).

From the quotation above, it can be said that the rumbling sounds from their stomach show that they are hungry. She is not able to fulfill her need of food.

In her waiting for the help from the boatmen, she clearly says that she feels dizzy with fatigue and hunger. Luckily, she is a tough girl. She and her family have to face this condition patiently for a while, until they arrive in Peking.

Soon as she arrives in Peking, she has to looking for a job to earn money so she can fulfill her basic needs of food and drinks. She and her mother live in

her Uncle’s rented house. As a normal human being, Orchid needs a proper house

to live, proper cloth to wear and enough food to be eaten. Although she has relative family in Peking, it does not mean that her Uncle can fulfill her needs of

food and drink. Even they have to pay the house where they live now. The writer emphasizes the lack of physiological needs especially in food.

I stared at the beggar as he passed my window. He raised his empty bowl toward me. His fingerswere as dry as dead branches. “Porridge,” he said. “We are out of rice,” I said. “I have been digging up white clay from my

yard and mixing it with wheat flour to make buns. Would you like one?”

(p.21).

From her statement, we know that Orchid is lack of food to be eaten and clay is not something to be eaten or something to be mixed in any dough or food,

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“Don’t you know that white clay clogs the intestines?” “I know, but there is nothing else to eat.”

She does not have any choice to eat except those clay buns. Food is the basic need to be fulfilled as the physiology needs, it does not mean that eating white clay mix

with wheat flour can fulfill her need of food related to the main food of Chinese people is rice. Not porridge, buns, moreover earthworms. She has to find a way to

get the appropriate food to be eaten.

Back to Sartain theory about motive that it drives an organism to behave achieve the goal. From the characterization of Orchid which are hard working and

tough , since her father died she has to replace her father position as the breadwinner and find a job to earn money so she can buy food to be eaten with her

family. Once she works for her neighbors and peddlers at vegetable market, carries loads of yams and cabbages, does the cleaning job after market close. She only earns few copper pennies each day (p.13), but it just to cover the debts claim.

Thus, to turn her poverty into better life, she sees the opportunity to become a concubine by join the decree of Imperial Consorts. She always thinks optimist in

any hard situation of her life including join the decree. Even though she is discouraged by Big Sister Fann but she still confidence with what she got. Logically, when she is accepted as the Emperor’s concubine, she is not worry

about food, drink, and cloth anymore. That is proven when she is accepted as one

of Emperor’s concubine. Orchid is selected as the Imperial Consort of the fourth

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any reason to worry about her physiology needs anymore, it has been fulfilled. Anytime she is hungry, she can get her food as simple as reverse her hands.

I called in my servants and said that I would like to have dinner. The eunuchs and ladies in waiting bowed and took my order to the kitchen. (p.73)

When the physiology needs are already fulfilled, Orchid will be able to move the higher levels of hierarchy of needs.

2. Orchid’s Motive to Fulfill the SafetyNeeds.

The second motive of Orchid to become a concubine is to avoid the matchmaking with her own cousin, Bottle. According to Maslow, hierarchy of safety needs will appear when someone has gratify the physiological needs.

Physiological needs are short term survival, while safety needs are long term survival. Some term that include in safety needs are security, stability,

dependency, protection, freedom from fear, from anxiety and chaos, need for structure, order, law, limits, strength in protector and so on.

From the perspective of Orchid, marrying Bottle is not what she wanted in

her plan of her future life. The main goal when she moves to Peking is to earn money in order to fulfill her psychology life especially food. The safety needs

appears when her Uncle forces her to marry his son. According to Petri, a need for safety and security in our environment are triggered by an emergency situation (1981: 303). In this context, Orchid’s life is threatened by the forceof her Uncle.

The rights to choose a partner of life and stay with are taken. She has no freedom to do what she wants for her own body and life. From the descriptions of Bottle

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One afternoon Uncle came with his son, to whom I had never been

introduced. His name was Ping, meaning “bottle”. I knew that Uncle had

had a son by a local prostitute and that he hid him because he was

embarrassed. I don’t know that Bottle was retarded (p.20).

Logically, his father who is his own blood relatives is embarrassed to admit him

as his son. No wonder that Orchid is not interesting to Bottle. The next descriptions of Bottle clearly state the reason why Orchid does not want to marry

him.

Cousin Bottle was a slope-shouldered fellow. The shape of his face matched his name. He looked sixty years old, although he was only twenty-two. Besides being “slow”, he was an opium addict. He stood in

the middle of the room smiling at me from ear to ear. His hands went constantly to pull up his pants, which fell right back to where they were, below his hips (p.20).

As a “normal” people, she also wants an appropriate person, a better man as her

husband. It is fair enough for a woman to have a high expectation for her partner.

Biologically, women are weaker than men. It needs a protection from a strong person in their danger environment. From the statement, it can be said that Orchid

is in the weak condition and need someone to protect her, while Bottle is not an appropriate person in that time. Besides he is retarded, he moves slowly. Eventually, if Orchid marries to Bottle, Orchid will be the breadwinner of the

family and there is possibility that she still lives in poverty because the money that she earns from her work mostly will be spent to buy opium. The denial of the

matchmaking can be seen from Orchid’s behavior after knowing that she is being

engaged to Bottle unilaterally. “I ran from the house into

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